05/28/2015

Convenience vs. Security: You CAN Have your Cake and Eat it Too

by Neil Farquharson

Let’s be honest. Americans on average are stretched far too thin in the workplace. Between 2013 and 2014 the average time Americans spent working rose to 46.7 hours per week. This represents the highest it has been since 2001 and 2002 – and we can only imagine this number increasing. It goes without saying – people just don’t have the extra time to worry about things like security, and it’s likely last on their list of “to-dos.” At the same time, the threat to businesses from cyberattacks is at an all-time high, and it seems that we hear about a new successful cyberattack or corporate data breach on a weekly basis. In this case, wouldn’t it make sense for companies to provide employees with easy to use, secure solutions to ensure that information and networks are properly protected? Why risk providing an already over-worked employee with a solution that is overly complicated, when you could provide them with a solution that doesn’t interrupt their regular work flow. For the longest time, the scenario has been convenience or security: pick one. Typically, technologies that have made our lives more convenient also tend to make them less secure. And technologies that make us more secure are generally less convenient. Historically companies have provided employees with security solutions, but they were complicated and hard to use. Here’s the secret though — security products that are built with user experience in mind eliminate the tough decision of choosing between convenience and security. In 2015, it is indeed possible to have both. But it takes a commitment to develop not just security products, but user-friendly products as well, to encourage employee buy-in. At ZixCorp, we’ve always designed our products with user experience in mind. That’s just one reason why our Zix Email Encryption solution, for example, is trusted by one in four U.S. banks — it not only gives users a seamless experience that requires no extra steps but also is extremely secure. When looking for solutions that will be used on a daily basis by employees, make sure they are ones that offer security and ease of use. Having a combination of the two is the only way to ensure full internal adoption, compliance and protection for both corporate and customer data.